The Journal
by illbeonthemoon
Summary: Kagome gives Inuyasha a journal. Drama and hilariousness insues. InuXKag, a little MirXSan. --Revised a bit--
1. Birthday

Enjoy, review, and all that good stuffs. : )

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I really don't know what to write in here. Kagome gave me this thing she calls a 'book' and some contraption with ink in it that I'm supposed to write stuff down with. She said that its called a journal, and that people in her time write down things that happen to them, their thoughts, and all that other crap. I think its a complete waste of time, but whatever makes Kagome happy...

Today is Souta's birthday, Kagome told me. He's 12.

I was in a pretty decent mood today, so I let Kagome go home to see Souta. Of course, she had to drag me along with her because I'm supposedly the kid's 'idol'. Feh. Like I wanna go see that annoying brat. But I went with her anyways, because she was gonna sit me all the way to hell if I didn't. And lemme tell ya, I don't like the idea of being sat all the way to hell. I mean, who would kill Naraku then?

Okay, I'm getting off track here. As I was saying, it's Souta's birthday. In Kagome's time, they have this tradition that when a it's a child's birthday, you celebrate by having a 'party'. When we arrived at Kagome's house, there was these different colored snakes hanging all over the house, and balls that floated somehow. Naturally, I thought that they were demons and we were all in danger.

So, I pulled out my Tetsusaiga and was just about to kill all the snakes and the possessed floating things, when Kagome tackled me. Boy, was she pissed. I try to save her from a demon, and what do I get? I get sat until my head splits into two.

After I got up from the now huge crater in the ground, I explained to a really mad Kagome that I was only trying to protect her from the snake demons.

Kagome just laughed at me.

"Inuyasha, those (she points at the snake demons) are just streamers. They're decorations, you baka. And the 'floating demons' are just balloons. They're decorations also. Now if you try to kill anything else, I'll send you back to Kaede's and I won't come back for half a year, got it?"

You should've seen the look she had on her face...Damn, that wench can be scary.

People started coming a little while after. By that time, Kagome made me change into some weird clothes from her time, along with a baseball cap to hide my ears. And Kami, those 'jeans', as Kagome calls them, are not comfortable. So anyways, I stood by Kagome most of the time. I didn't know any of these people except for Kagome and her family. That is, until I smelled that Hobo creep arrive. Why the hell was he here anyways? Probably just to flirt with my Kagome. Uh...I mean...Uh...

I was right, as always. All the baka did was sit near Kagome, stand by Kagome, talk to Kagome, smile at Kagome, and the list goes on...

And I could to was sit there and look mad, 'cause Kagome already made it clear not to kill anything or anyone.

I think I scared him off after an hour or two. It must've been all the growling...or maybe it was the fangs.

"Uh, Kagome? I really must be getting home, my mom'll be worried about me. So, I'll see you at school?"

"Okay Hojo, bye!" She waved and smiled to that disgusting little-

"Inuyasha, why'd you have to go and scare him off?!" This isn't really my day...

I'll skip all the sits and pain, and go straight to the delicious cake.

Another birthday tradition in Kagome's time is to have a huge pastry thing covered in 'frosting'. Its sorta like a big piece of bread, but a lot sweeter. I didn't wanna try it at first, but Kagome sort of made me. She said I'd like it, so I took a little piece….and boy was I glad I did. That cake had to have been the best thing I've ever tasted in my whole life. Even better than ramen! It was like tasting heaven...and I ate about half of it too.

After that was pretty boring. Souta opened the gifts he received from other people. Then everyone pretty much left, and it was just me, Kagome, Souta, Mrs. Higurashi, and Kagome's grandpa.

Me and Kagome got ready to leave and Kagome said goodbye to her family.

Oh, and I wished Souta a happy birthday. It went something like this-

"Happy birthday, kid." And I ruffled his hair.

So, we went back to the Feudal Era. Kagome made us some ramen for dinner and they all went to sleep around the camp fire.

And right now I'm sitting in a tree, writing in this stupid book. It's getting pretty late. I guess I should at least rest for a little while.


	2. Lost

Hey, guess what? I'm back, for all you people that actually care::Not many:: 

My internet broke for a long time, but it is finally fixed!! I'm so happy!!

Anyways, I'll try to write lots and come up with good ideas, okay? As always, review and make me happy!

I kinda need it now anyways.

Oh, and why do people seem to write so late at night? It's 2:34 in the morning, and I'm just starting.. (Haha, get it? 234? I must be going insane from lack of sleep :)

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**January 2nd**

According to Kagome, it has been exactly 143 days since I last wrote in this journal. You want to know why? Well, I'll explain it to you.

Three days after Souta's birthday, I was just sniffing around the forest looking for anything suspicious. The usual.

It was late, and I was about ready to quit when a strong scent appeared out of nowhere. It burned my nose, and immediately I recognized it as Naraku's, or one of his little buddies. I couldn't sense anyone near me, so I started to run faster around the forest, looking for him where he could somehow be hiding from me.

It was almost dawn, and the others would be sleeping still. It would be no use to go all the way back to the village, only to come back and find that Naraku's scent had disappeared altogether. We hadn't had a lead in weeks, and I couldn't lose this one now.

I searched for what seemed like hours and didn't find anything. His disgusting scent was fading now, and I knew he was gone. How could he get past me though? I looked everywhere and couldn't find anyone, but his scent still stuck to the forest as if he was right in front of me.

What was going on?

I decided to go back to the village. It wouldn't help if I stayed looking for something the obviously was not here right now.

Besides, the others would be up by now. They would start to worry if I wasn't back soon.

I explained to them what happened right when I got back to our cabin. We all agreed that it was best that we stay low for awhile, in case Naraku was trying to sneak up on us. We would have to travel around a lot, move from place to place, and hide our tracks.

Kagome offered to take some of the things that weren't needed back to her time for awhile for safe keeping. Our load would be lighter, and that would make traveling faster, so of course I approved.

Until she tried to take this here journal away from me.

"But Inuyasha! You don't really need it with you all the time. It'll only get in the way. I promise, you can have it back right after we're done with this whole Naraku charade. And I swear I won't look at it! I promise!"

I figured that's the only reason she wanted me to give it up. After I made her swear about twenty times, I reluctantly gave it up.

After Kagome came back from stashing away all of out unneeded things, we bid Kaede goodbye. Our first stop, as we planned, was a village we'd been to before that wasn't too far from the village Sango used to live in before her and her family were tricked by Naraku.

The villagers there seemed to like us last time we were there, so we figured, why not?  
We planned to stay at least two or three days before moving on to the next village. This way we might hear some rumors on the jewel shards and actually manage to retrieve a few.

I'll skip through all the boring details of us moving through random villages. Nothing very interesting happened. We once had a false leas- turned out to be just some demon bragging about a power he didn't even have.

The village-hopping went on for about three weeks without any sign of Naraku. The whole thing in the forest must have been a false alarm.

Kagome headed back for home to get our things, and said she was going to stay for three or four days. I couldn't really argue with her, since she hadn't been home for at least a month.

For those four days, I mostly rested in my favorite tree, ate leftover ramen, and bothered Shippo a little. It was pretty boring.

"Inuyasha, you cant sit in that tree and sulk the whole time Kagome is away. Make yourself useful." Who ever said I was sulking, Miroku?!

"I'm not sulking. Mind your own business." I didn't look up, but I'm pretty sure he just walked away after that.

When her four days were up, I went and sat against the well to wait for Kagome to come back. She came out not long after, looking pretty worried. I wondered what was wrong with her.

I asked as I helped her climb out of the well.

"Well...I...please don't get mad at me, okay?"

How could I promise that before I even knew what I wasn't allowed to get mad at? I nodded my head anyways.

"I-I...lost your diary. I mean journal. I don't know what happened to it! I hid everything in my closet...and when I checked, everything was there except for that! I'm sorry! I'm really really really sorry!" She knew how much that tiny book meant to me. I didn't exacty go around expressing my feelings about everything.

I breathed in deep and tried to look calm. (**A/N::gasp!:: This is a first for Inuyasha!**) I think my face gave it away, though.

"How could you lose it?! You never even touched it while we were away! Thats...impossible!" I scowled, crossed my arms across my chest, and turned my back to her.

I was not forgiving her anytime soon.

She owed me bigg time.

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I know, I know. Its short. Not even 3 pages...BUT! I have the next three chapters planned out in my head, and they shall be up soon!! Ideas are much appreciated. Thanks, and REVIEW!! MAKE ME HAPPY!!J


	3. Adventures of a Moody Inuyasha

I made it as long as I could cause it took me longer than I thought to update. Sorry bout that!

Thank you very much tooooo:

**Beaner93**

**LadyCash**

**RisingXXAngel**

**MadeNew**

For reviewing last chapter. Reviews are much appreciated.

Enjoy!

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**January 8th**

On with my _heartbreaking_ story.

As I was saying, I wasn't going to let Kagome off the hook with just an apology. She forced my journal away from me, promising for it to be safe, and she comes back telling me that she _lost _it! I mean, anyone could have taken it and read it!

And I didn't want just anyone reading my personal property.

So, Kagome and I sat by the well, her looking as if the world was about to end. She must have felt pretty bad about this. She kept repeating, "I'm sorry, I'm sorry!" over and over again, and I stared at her blankly.

"Well, Kagome," I said in a matter-of-factly tone after about ten minutes of apologies, " You're just gonna have to make it up to me."

"How? I know! I'll buy you a new one!" Her eyes shined. God, those big brown eyes…

Getting off topic here…

"I'll make you a deal. I'll forgive you if you agree to do whatever I say for one day."

I could see her eyes widening as I spoke.

And that little voice popped inside my head. "_You're a stupid moron, you know that? You can't just take advantage of a girl like that! What kind of horrible person are you, making Kagome be your own personal slave_?" It yelled at me.

I told it to shut up, and waited for Kagome to respond. It took her a couple minutes, and she looked calmer than she did before, but also kind of mad at the same time.

"No. Look, think of some other way to forgive me. I'm not going to follow you around all day, doing whatever you say. That's humiliating!" She crossed her arms.

"Kagome," I said rather smugly, "Take it or leave it."

"No!"

"Yes!"

"No!"

"YES!"

"SIT!"

Damn that wench. Damn her to hell.

So, it went on like that for about an hour. Us arguing, her making me crash into the ground repeatedly until I couldn't feel my head anymore. Screw that. I couldn't feel my _whole body_. She got tired after awhile, and I lost count somewhere around forty or fifty.

"Okay," She said with a defeated sigh, "How about a truce?"

I pushed myself up into a sitting position because I was too sore to stand and was not about to try. I put on that little pouty look that I knew Kagome couldn't stand.

"But whhyyy? You sat me a whole bunch of times and you still have to have your way!"

"Hey, I don't have to do anything at all! I can deal with you being mad at me forever."

I wouldn't ever admit it, but that stung a little. "You're the one who lost my property! You owe me!"

"SIT!"

"No! Kagome- mmph!" My face collided with the ground for about the thousandth time in only a couple of hours. By time I had enough strength to get back up, I was surprised to see that she wasn't there. I figured maybe she was just sitting there, waiting for me to get up so she could sit me some more. That seemed like one of her favorite things to do lately- sit the hell outta me.

Maybe it was just a girl thing?

By time I had got back, Sango and Kilala were sleeping on one of Kagome's sleeping bags, while Kagome slept with Shippo snoring in her arms. Miroku looked deep in thought, staring at the fire. He looked up at me and smiled, "So, what did you do this time?"

"What makes you think I did something wrong?" I glared at that stupid monk.

"Well, Sango, Shippo and I were all dining peacefully, when along came Lady Kagome, appearing very upset. She only reason she ever looks that troubled is when she has some kind of argument with you. Oh, and the fact that she was muttering, 'stupid Inuyasha' most of the night helped bring me to my conclusion. So I say again- What is it that you did this time?"

I sighed. "All I did to her was offer her a chance at my forgiveness! Is that so wrong?"

"Inuyasha, Inuyasha, what shall I do with you? Must I teach you everything about women?"

I could feel my cheeks heat up. "What are you getting at, monk?"

"You don't have to lie to me, Inuyasha. It's quite obvious." Damn monk had a smirk on his face now.

"Fine. If you're gonna keep bugging me about it…" I rolled my eyes at him.

"Excellent! First, tell me exactly what you did to upset Lady Kagome."

I told Miroku how she came out of the well, looking all sad, and told me that she so carelessly lost my journal. I continued to tell how she sat me mercilessly for _hours _until she finally stopped.

"It was torture, I tell you! And all I did was offer my divine forgiveness for _one day _of her doing anything I want!"

"So, in other words, you used Kagome losing something of yours as an excuse to boss her around?"

Oh crap. He got me there. "U-uh….yeah, I guess. But I wasn't going to make her do anything extreme, I swear! Just simple things."

"I'm positive that you were."

I didn't answer him, so he gave up after awhile and laid down. I'm guessing he fell asleep by the sound of his even breathing.

Dawn was nearing now; you could tell by the tiny sliver of light coming up over the green hills some miles in the distance. It still would be at least three or four hours before everyone else woke up. We would have to leave Kaede's village pretty soon and do something- the last few weeks we didn't get any jewel shards and the chances of us actually getting some were slim if we didn't move soon.

I sat against the nearest tree and stared at her. She was on her side with half of her dark hair draped over her shoulder and covering some of her face. She looked like an angel. I bit my lip and mentally smacked myself. That wasn't something I should be thinking, right? I could see that she was shivering a little; it didn't feel that cold to me, but then again, to a human it might feel cold.

I didn't even have to think about it- it was just an instinct, something I couldn't control. The idea just came to me, and it was like my body was controlling my own actions. I walked over to her, slid into her oversized sleeping bag and hugged her to me. I also conveniently pushed Shippo out of the way. He didn't wake up. I was right, she was freezing.

Once I realized what exactly it was I was doing, I felt my face get warm. She stirred a little, and I saw her open her eyes. I closed mine fast, pretending to be asleep.

"Inuyasha?" Her voice cracked a little.

I had to answer now. What else could I do? I slowly opened one of my eyes, to see her looking at me with those big, brown eyes of hers wide and staring straight at me. I panicked. What if she pushed me away? What if she yelled and woke up everyone? God, that would be embarrassing.

"I was just trying to keep you from getting sick. You were shivering." I meant it to sound a little mad, but it came out soft.

"Oh. Thanks, I guess." I could hear the sound of her teeth clanking together. Unconsciously I hugged even her closer. We both blushed.

After awhile her breathing evened out. She was so warm now and soft that I really didn't want to pull away when I could hear Miroku waking up. But somehow I did, and practically ran back to my spot by the tree. I did _not _need Miroku ragging on me today.

When Kagome woke up, she shot me a confused look, as if to say, '_Did that really happen, or did I dream it?_'

I restrained myself and smiled halfway. She stumbled up to make breakfast. Looked to me like Kagome wasn't mad at me anymore.

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"Hey, Inuyasha?" Kagome whispered to me once we'd trailed behind the other enough so they wouldn't overhear us.

"Yeah?"

"I'm sorry about getting so mad at you yesterday. So…truce?" She actually looked like she was sorry.

I sighed overdramatically. Miroku looked back and grinned that perverted grin of his at me before turning around again. "I don't know Kagome…"

"Come on, we could compromise! How about you get one wish? Anything, as long as it's reasonable." She smiled, and I could feel my heart beating loudly. Anything I wanted? That was more than I'd hope to get.

"Fine. Anything?"

"Anything. Remember, as long as it's reasonable."

"Okay." I smiled at that. I had to think of what I wanted…and once I tried to think, nothing came at me. What did I want form Kagome that she could give to me? Most things were out of the question. Like that bastard Naraku dead, or a five lifetime supplies of ramen. I didn't think Kagome was capable of destroying Naraku by herself, and she didn't have that enough money to buy that much ramen.

What did I want?

I wanted a family, but I knew that our little group here had kind of grown on me. I couldn't really imagine life without them; a normal life with a mother and father, no action or excitement. And most of all, I couldn't imagine living with Sesshomaru. I'd kill myself before that would happen.

I was surprised to realize that I wanted Kagome to be happy, too. Lately she'd been so stressed out about things I couldn't even imagine. I mean, she was just a normal girl who suddenly had to deal with all _this_. I could think how hard this all must be on her. She was the person I traveled with, one of my first real friends. She was kind to me. She cared about me. And even if she was going to leave me, I wanted her to be happy.

Look at me, I'm turning into a freaking sissy.

Before I knew it, it was dark out and we had to set up camp.

"Uh, Inuyasha?" I heard Kagome say. I guess I wasn't really paying attention, because when I looked down, my sleeve had caught on fire. I jumped up and started waving it around like I was crazy. I heard Miroku, Sango and Shippo laughing. They thought that was funny? I'd like to see how they'd like it if they caught on fire!

After I had successfully got the fire to go out, I sat down with my legs crossed with a dangerous look on my face. One that said, '_Anyone says anything and they die_.'

Kagome looked like she was trying to hold back a laugh. I gave her a death look. That made her laugh harder.

"I'm going for a walk," I murmured, and ran out into the surrounding forest. Some _walk_: I ran a few miles away. I tried to stall until they were sleeping, so I figured I would gather some twigs for the fire. I picked up a few

And all of a sudden, the sickly smell of Naraku was all around me again.

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Sorry again that it took so long, I tried to make it longer than usual…it's 6 pages! Yay! (that's probably still sucky, but whatever) Reviews are appreciated!! 


	4. Alone

Okay, so you're wondering why I'm updating so soon. Well, I got some veryyyy good reviews this chapter and that made me happy. : ) 

This chapter is dedicated to brakken, who reviewed not only all the chapters in this fanfic, but all my other ones too! I can't even tell you how happy you made me. : ) Thanks for the criticism and I'll try to go back and fix my mistakes, although I usually write sometimes around two or three in the morning and I'm half asleep (that seems to be the time when I think best). So you can't really blame me, but I'll try anyways. But thanks again, even though I said it like three times already.

Also thanks to my other reviewers! You guys rock:

**RisingXXAngel**- Why thank you very much. : )  
**MadeNew**-Yes, I'm getting to how he got another journal. Don't worry, it'll make sense soon. : )  
**Beaner93**- You never ever fail to make me laugh. Thanks for always making my day.

Well, that's the end of my thank you rant (that took up half a freaking page. Wow). Enjoy!!

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_January 20th_

"_Shit_!" I yelled, I think a little too loud. Why did he only come around when everyone else was sleeping?!

"DAMMIT! MIROKU, SANGO, KAGOME!! SOMEONE!" I strained my ears to hear anything- footsteps, breathing...I heard nothing.

"...Shippo?" I felt truly pathetic.

And then I heard it. That revolting sound of his laughter made the hair stand up on the back of my neck, and triggered the demon instinct in me to kill. I unsheathed my sword and held it with two hands in front of me. If no one was coming to help me, then I might as well put up a good fight.

And who knows? I might even kill him. This would be the day that everyone had been waiting for years.

"Show yourself, you bastard!" I yelled. I jumped when he appeared right in front of me, his face always hidden by that white baboon pelt. I half expected him to run away like the coward he was.

"hello, Inuyasha. What is a little half demon like you doing all alone in the scary forest?" He said my name like it was the most disgusting thing he'd ever heard of. I wanted to tear him limb from limb right there and now. I wanted this to be over, finally, after all the people he had made suffer, all the lives he'd destroyed. Families had been torn apart time after time, and I'd had enough.

I was determined to bring him down tonight- No more suffering, no more hurt. I just couldn't take it anymore, even if I had to do it on my own.

"Fuck you." I growled, emphasizing the words, spelling out my hatred for him.

"Where are your friends? The monk, demon slayer, kitsune, and that little girl you travel around with? They intrigue me. Maybe I will send Kohaku one day to capture them for my entertainment." He knew he was getting to me, and I knew exactly what he was trying to do. He would get me into my demon form so that he could kill me off easy, him probably not even breaking a sweat. I would have no common sense, just the instinct to fight, to kill.

I lunged at him as fast as I could with the Tetsusaiga, completely ready to stab the hell out of him. Literally.

And as fast as I had attacked him, he thrust one of his ever growing tentacles straight through my stomach. Time itself seemed to slow down, everything in slow motion. Somewhere in the back of my head I knew that rationally, it was just the fact that there was a giant squirming tentacle impaling me, but that didn't seem to help. Slashing my sword at it in a desperate attempt to free myself, I could feel at least two more of his grimy little tentacles stab me in places I didn't know. I was losing a lot of blood, and the world was starting to go blurry around the edges.

I knew I was going to pass out soon if I didn't do something. Right now there was nothing I could do; It was virtually impossible to move or even think straight. My vision was now spinning and shiny, and all I could see was fuzzy shapes of things I could make out.

"You bastard," I whispered. And so when I could feel myself slipping away, I did the only thing I could do.

I mustered every ounce of energy that I could possibly get, and screamed as loud as I could. I only hoped that someone could hear me.

The last thing I heard was that sickly laugh, one so horrible that shouldn't even be considered a laugh. And then everything went black.

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Gasp! Cliffie! And thus ends my craptastic attempt at an action scene...I fullly intended to make this wayyy longer (It's only 2 pages...), but I'll update sometime between later tonight and Monday. I just wanted to get this part out. Reviews make me type faster. : ) Oh, and I'm thinking about rewriting the first chapter...maybe just adding to it, cause it's so small. 


	5. Waking Up

-1Reviews last chapter:

**Beaner93**- Haha, halibut? Butterscotch? I love you, you're so funny. :)

**Chrisandanimeluvr**- Thank you!

**Lilangelchr30305**- Thanks!

**Brakken**- Thank you for being the one of the best reviewers I've ever had. :) I would have private messaged you back, except I accidentally deleted it…Oops. Thank you again for all your support, it makes me feel all happy inside. :)

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**January 26th**

I noticed three things as I slowly drifted back into consciousness. One, I wasn't dead. Two, an arm was draped over my chest. And three, all I could smell was blood. Blood was everywhere and that scared me because most of it was mine and my friends'.

I was terrified out of my mind; the whole forest was filled with a deadly silence that usually meant murder had taken place. But who? Who had I lost? It seemed like hours before I was able to open my eyes and push myself up onto my hands and into a sitting position. The arm that was previously on my chest had fallen to the ground with a thud. Feeling my eyes grow wide, I looked around.

My nose had been exactly right, but my reasoning hadn't. Blood coated the muddy ground, turning it a sickly dark reddish color. It turned my stomach. My companions, every single last one of them, lay on the ground with gashes and a lot of other wounds covering their bodies. Miroku and Sango looked as if they had put up the best fight. Shippo wasn't that bad, only a few scratches and a cut or two. Naraku must have just hurt him enough so he just passed out. I wondered why. All but Kilala, who sat whimpering and nudging Sango's unresponsive body with her nose. I thought about why he had left Kilala alone, while he hurt everyone else.

I didn't dare to even look at Kagome yet. Kagome, _my _Kagome, how could she get herself into something dangerous like this? There were all alive still, I could tell, but she shouldn't have taken the risk at all! If only I was stronger, a full demon, I could have done something…

But the fact of the matter was that their hearts were all still beating, and for that fact I was immensely grateful. This could have turned out a lot worse.

Inhaling deeply, I shakily turned my head to look at the unconscious girl beside me. There were numerous scrapes and bruises scattered across her face and a massive cut on her arm that looked like it went deep. There were more enormous gashes in each one of her legs, the same as the one on her left arm. And across her stomach were angry red slash marks raked across the width of her body, the bottom half of her shirt torn to pieces. It looked like someone had taken their claws and slid them diagonally through her skin.

Seeing her like this made me so angry that I started shaking violently, then I suddenly felt sick and threw up on the other side of me.

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Humans were fragile creatures; I didn't break that easy. They were going to die soon if I didn't get them back to Kaede soon, or some healer. Losing too much blood to a human was fatal. 

"Kilala," I called to her, my voice sounding hoarse. I cleared my throat, but that only made it hurt more. Kilala came to me at the sound at my voice and meowed, probably glad to see someone awake.

"Kilala," I continued in my raspy voice, "I need you to carry all of us back to the nearest village. If you can't, then I might be able to walk." I looked down and my own injuries. I couldn't see anything besides my torn shirt and blood, which sort of blended in with my shirt. Even though I couldn't see it, it hurt like hell.

One by one, I carefully dragged each of their bodies onto Kilala's back, and she flew off, going slow. I went at my own pace, which was as fast as I could make my feet go.

The sky was getting dark again. I hadn't had enough time to notice before, but the scent of Naraku was completely gone from the forest.

It took maybe two hours for us to arrive at the nearest village, and once we were there, Villagers rushed to our aid at once. They took Kagome, Miroku, Shippo, and Sango into one log cabin and began to tend to their wounds immediately.

"My dear, what happened to those poor children?" An old woman with a kind face had asked me. In the half an hour I'd been here, I had already gotten dozens of hateful stares that all said the same thing: '_What are you doing in out village, you filthy half breed_?"

This woman was different, I could tell. She wouldn't be unkind to me.

"We were attacked by a powerful demon by surprise." My raspy voice surprised me, and apparently the old woman by the look on her face.

"Oh! You sound horrible! Come, let me help you." She ushered me with a wave of her hand into what seemed to be her home not far away from where we were standing before.

"Pardon me," She said as she ordered me to take off my shirt. I obeyed, and I had no idea why, "I seemed to have forgot to have mentioned my name. You can call me Rei." She began to clean my wounds with a warm cloth, then put something cold all over my skin, which made me shiver.

"I'm Inuyasha. Thank you for helping me. You know, not many people would." My voice was still hoarse.

Still rubbing the cold ointment over my chest, she said, "Hmm…dog demon…interesting." By now she had bound my chest with ripped up cloths.

"Half demon, actually." I decided to change the subject. "Do you know if my friends'll be okay?" I was feeling much better now; whatever medicine Rei had put on me had made my skin numb. I knew the pain would come back once the medication wore off, but for now the dull throbbing was fine with me. Chances were, my injuries would heal by time the medicine faded.

"I need to see my friends. Thank you again for you help," I actually mustered up a smile at her. She smiled back at me.

"One more thing. Here, take some water with you. You sound awful, dear." Rei handed me a cup of clear water and I drank it down fast. She smiled once more, and I walked out into the cold, holding my blood stained fire rat kimono in my hand.

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Okay, gotta make this quick, cause my battery on my laptop is running out and I cannot find my charger. Next chapter will be longer, I promise. :) 


	6. Discovery

**Sorry it took me so long to update…Ya know, school and all that stuff…**

**Chrisandanimeluvr**- Shippo? Mkay, I'll get to him. Thanks:)

**Inuyasha05**- Thank you!!

**MadeNew**- (5th chapter) Yeah, I guess Inuyasha was just too mad to think…but good point though. :) (last chapter) You're welcome. Haha, I can't wait either, although I have noo idea how I'm going to do it. I guess I'll just have to wing it or something.

**Brakken**- Haha, this is going to go on forever, isn't it? I mean, the whole complimenting back and forth thing. But I'm okay with that. :) And your reviews really do help me. Thank you!!

**Beaner93**- Ha, I love your enthusiasm…you're hilarious. :)

**Lilangelchr30305**- Thank you for you review!!

Enjoy!

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**February 1st**

One thing I noticed as I clutched my bandaged arm and stumbled across the empty town was that children and husbands and wives were all staring at me, _glaring_, even. I hadn't even done anything to them, just merely asked for help for my friends…What had I done wrong?

I guess I shouldn't be surprised. I had lived my whole life like this. What should make today any different?

I ignored them and staggered on.

Drops of rain fell from the sky, soaking me. I felt my hair stick to my face and my clothes get heavy. It was ironic, like the sky was crying for me.

The sky grumbled angrily at me, like it was mad at me too for what I was.

"What do _you _want?" One of the village men who had been acting as a guard said, standing in front the cottage which the kind old lady had pointed out to me as the village's medical center, where the others would most likely be at. The man looked young, probably in his twenties, and also attempted to sound intimidating, but failed miserably by the shaking in his voice.

I grinned. "Move. I need to see my friends."

"I have orders not to let anyone in here at this hour." He looked absolutely terrified, but stood his ground. I tilted my head upwards, towards the darkened, cloud filled sky. I guessed they were probably exhausted, if at all conscious, and would want to sleep. This did not stop me from wanting to get in.

"Yeah? Well, buddy, I need to get in there. I don't have to hurt you. All you have to do is let me in." I did _not _have time for a petty little fight.

"U-uhh…" He stepped aside. I hear him exhale with relief as I ran passed him. Wimp.

I slammed open the door, considerably afraid of what was behind it.

My mind froze in its tracks and I could have sworn my heart stopped beating for a second or two. There were four white cots spread out on the floor, in each one lay a companion of mine. An old woman, who must have been the healer, looked up at me in surprise.

"What are you doing here, child?" she asked, clearly startled. Yet she did not look afraid like the others did…She reminded me of Kaede.

I wanted to look away, but I couldn't. I kept my eyes on them, my broken friends. "T-these are my friends…I-I brought them here…" Why was I explaining to her?

"Oh, you must be the half demon everyone is so worked up about. Why, you don't look that 'heartless' to me." She smiled at me, a real genuine smile. I was grateful for it somehow.

In the first cot, all the way to the left of the small room, lie Sango. Just about her whole body was covered in white bandages. Blood seeped through the wounds on her chest, but her face was strangely peaceful as she slept. I had no doubt in my mind that Sango would make a full recovery; she was strong.

Next was Miroku, though unconscious, had that stupid lecherous grin on his face. Moron. Even after Naraku had beaten the crap out of him, all he could do was think perverted thoughts.

Shippo didn't even look freaking _injured. _He probably just passed out back in the forest just because everyone else had. But who knew, maybe he a couple of scratches somewhere…

I closed my eyes and took a deep breath to steady myself for what was coming next. I guess that medicine that Rei had given me was wearing off, because the side of my stomach hurt like hell, but I ignored the throbbing. I could hear the steady pounding of the rain of the roof and a clap of thunder outside.

When I opened my eyes again, the old healer was staring at me with wise, knowing eyes. She knew what I myself did not yet realize until about half a minute later.

Looking towards the final cot, about a million emotions ran through me at once. Her face was pale, her mouth curling downwards into a frown. A bandage stretched from her hairline to her neck, covering up what Naraku had done to her. I felt immeasurable hate towards him, and I wanted him dead right there and now.

No. I wanted him worse than dead.

And then it hit me, knocking me breathless.

I loved her.

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Dun dun dun!! Inuyasha's kinda OOC at the end…Curse the fluffyness, but that's all I'm semi good at. I'll get the next chapter up as soon as I can think of it. Reviews please. :) 


	7. Memory

Gasp! 39 reviews…can we make it to fifty this chapter? That'd make me the happiest person alive, I swear!! That would make my day forever!! I'm excited just thinking about it. :)

Make it to fifty reviews and I'll write something special for you guys, kay?

There were like 8 reviews this chapter and I'm too lazy at this moment to thank all of you personally, so thank you to everyone. You guys help me get outta bed in the morning when I'm ready to murder my alarm clock. :)

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**February 7th**

I was shivering in my rain soaked clothes. Despite my little epiphany about five minutes ago, I mentally slapped myself for the millionth time that week. Why did I have these thoughts? Kagome was…Kagome. The girl who freed me from my eternal binding to the tree Kikyo had pinned me to fifty years ago. The girl who saved me from being _alone _the rest of my miserable life. But she was also the girl who deserved a shot at leading a normal life. She didn't ask for this- it just happened to be at the wrong place at the wrong time, while also being the incarnation of the wrong person.

Kagome could have had a natural life: finish high school, got married, had kids, die happy with her loving husband. The world she was in now was unnatural, unjust, and _dangerous_. Everywhere she turned she got hurt, and tagging along with me only made things worse. I couldn't be there to protect her no matter how hard I tried, and I made more enemies than anyone I knew due to being a hanyou…

Just then, Miroku sat up slowly in his cot.

"Ah, Inuyasha, what a lovely surprise to see that we are alive!" He smiled.

"Miroku, what _happened_?" I asked, surprised he recovered consciousness so quickly. It had only been what, an hour since we had arrived at the village? But I didn't know how long we were in that clearing, passed out.

"Well, we were sitting around the camp fire quite peacefully, when we sensed Naraku near us. We got ready to leave as quickly as we could, and took off into the forest. We didn't have time to wait for you to come back from your little fit. I figured you would just find us and join us there. About half a minute before we reached Naraku, we heard you scream over and over again. I must say, Inuyasha, you gave poor Kagome over there quite a scare when we found you nearly bleeding to death on the ground. We put up our best fight, but I'm afraid that he got the best of us that time." He sighed.

"I didn't last very long either," I grumbled.

"We might have been able to take him down if we were all together, fighting. Separate we're not as good." He laid back down and closed his eyes.

"Agreed."

After a couple minutes, I realized he was asleep. Suddenly, my eye lids felt as if they weighed twenty pounds. Sleep sounded like a good idea.

I gazed towards Kagome, whose eyes were opening.

What?! She's awake? No, _no_! I'm not ready for this, shit! All of a sudden, I was wide awake.

Her eyes were fluttering open, looking around the room. I ducked quick, an instinct when I did not want to be seen. I ran as quiet as I could without being seen to the old healer, and whispered to her, "Can you give us some privacy?"

"Oh, sure, dear! Excuse me," she said in a loud voice that caused Kagome to look towards us. I could see the confusion on her face, and despite the obvious pain she must be in, she giggled. It must be a funny picture, I thought to myself. I was bent over whispering to an old lady, my face beet red, while she talked in her blaring voice and ushered herself out the door.

I cleared my throat. Kagome was now looking at me, with those bottomless brown eyes of hers…Dammit!

"How are you feeling, Kagome?" I asked her, my voice actually squeaking on the first word. Dammit, today was _not _my day. More blood flowed to my face as I looked at the curiosity on her face, and I thought of the realization I came to five minutes ago.

She tilted her head sideways and looked at me, like she didn't recognize me or something. For some reason, it scared me. Her eyes suddenly turned panicked, as if she was lost and didn't know what to do.

"Who _are _you?" She asked me.

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Woah, I was totally not expecting that. It just came to me and I had to write it down. :) A couple of things, though. I know, I'm slacking. The last couple of chapters were very short. I'll attempt to write a long one next time. Second, sorry bout all the cliffies. I just realized I keep ending chapters like that. Oops…Three, I'll try to update sooner, okay?

Reviews help me type faster. :)


	8. Afraid

I'm really sorry bout the crappy updates so far, and how long it takes me to write them. But I'm really gonna try on this chapter, okay?

- - -Note that there are 47 reviews!! YAY!! Only three more to go!!- - -

Also, thanks to everyone who reviewed last chapter. It means a lot to me.

* * *

**February 15th**

I remember talking to Kagome one day about her leaving once we had completed the sacred jewel and killed off Naraku.

"_Hey, Kagome?" I had asked her. We were laying in a field full of sun flowers, not far from the village, looking up at the sky. There were clouds in the sky that day, and I remember noticing a cloud looking strangely like a cow smiling at me._

"_Yeah?" She answered. She propped herself up on one arm and laid on her side, looking at me. She smiled. I was suddenly self conscious- I could feel the breeze on my back, blowing my hair forward, how sweaty my palms seemed to be, and the blush creeping into my cheeks. I looked away from her eyes, at another oddly shaped cloud._

"_I was just wondering- what are you going to do once we're done with this whole jewel thing? I mean, are you going back home or what?" I thought that that last part came out mean._

_I could see the light in her eyes disappear. "I don't know yet. Maybe I'll go home for awhile, then come back. But one thing's for sure- there's no way I could ever leave you guys here forever." She smiled a little smile._

"_Oh." It was a stupid thing to say, but I couldn't think of anything else._

"_And if for some reason I do leave, can you make me a promise?" I looked straight in her eyes now, and I found that I couldn't look away._

"_Sure. What is it?" Why the hell did I just agree to that? She could have made me promise to do something stupid, like be nice to Kouga or Shippo. No damn way was I going to do that._

"_Can you promise me that you won't forget me?"_

_Well, that was an easy one. I couldn't forget her no matter how hard I tried. "I can do that." That seemed like a stupid reply too._

"_But wait," I added. "Only if you don't forget me either." Where the hell were these words coming from?!_

"_Don't you worry, I won't forget you." She laughed, and the world suddenly seemed a lot brighter._

And now, as I stood with my mouth hanging wide open, I remembered that day. She made a promise to me, _a promise_. Even though she hadn't exactly left us yet, she forgot me. That was part of the promise. Not forgetting.

It hurt, actually.

Right when I realized something important, something vital about her, she had to freaking _forget _me. What kind of screwed up world was this when the person you loved didn't even recognize you? It was downright unfair to take something away as important as her memory from her. But in the instant when she didn't even know who I was, I felt my heart sinking in my chest. The look in her eyes that made her look like she was a little girl looking for her mother made some feelings swirl in me that I didn't know I was capable of feeling. I felt hatred and anger in me, and I fought against my demonic instincts to kill. Now was not a good time for that, with everyone still hurt and unconscious.

All but poor, confused Kagome. She still sat up in her cot, looking at me with scared eyes, probably waiting for me to bring my jaw up from it's place in the air and tell her who the hell I was. Rationally, I knew that it wasn't really her fault that she couldn't remember me. Maybe she got hit on the head so hard that she just lost her memory. Maybe that fucking Naraku took it from her just to make me mad. And it worked.

_Maybe _I was going to rip his disgusting head off.

Damn him, I was going to murder him! I could have dealt with just me, but he had gone too far, hurting everyone like that! When I was done with that bastard he was going to wish he was never-

"Hello? Excuse me, but who are you? And would you mind telling me who I am too?"

I snapped my head back up. "W-well, y-you are K-k-kagome…" I was shaking so bad that I couldn't talk right. "A-and I'm I-Inuyasha." I took a deep breath in an attempt to calm myself down.

"Kagome? That's a pretty name. Are you sure it's mine?" She smiled. God, how I loved her smile, even if she didn't even know my name …

I pinched myself. Focus!

"Yes, it's your name. Kagome, can you remember anything at all?" I asked in the softest voice I could possibly manage. I didn't want to scare her or anything. If she started crying, I wasn't sure that I could take that…I hate it when people cry.

"I don't know where I am! I'm scared…" Her voice was shaking, and I could see tears brimming in her eyes. Shit!

Without thinking, I launched myself at her before she had a chance to begin crying, and wrapped my arms around her. She was really cold, and shivering. I inhaled. She smelled like vanilla and just…Kagome. What the hell was wrong with me?! I couldn't even think relatively normal thoughts while I was around her.

"Excuse me…Inuyasha, was it? What are you doing? Who are you again?" Her voice broke twice. I tightened my arms around her. Naraku must've stolen my brain.

"Yeah. I'm your…friend," I was her friend, right? Wasn't I? "We travel together. Right now we're in a village, because us and our friends got hurt. You must've lost your memory. Don't be scared!" I begged her.

She started to calm down a little. Her breathing slowed down and she stayed still in my arms. The tears stopped, and I wiped off the ones that were still on her face. I think I saw her smile for a split second.

I really didn't want to let go, but now that she didn't need me anymore, I figured that I had better let go of her. I was over staying my welcome, even though I wasn't welcome in the first place. If she had been in her normal state and I hugged her like that, she would have dumped me straight on the floor, I'm sure.

I started to let go of her, but she looked up at me with wild panic in her eyes.

"Don't! Don't leave me here, I'm scared!" She sobbed. Crap, crap, _crap_! What was I supposed to do now?

"Okay, okay, I won't leave you! Just…calm down, okay?" She ran into my chest and cried some more. I slowly put my arms back around her.

"Don't leave me, don't leave me," she repeated over and over again. I sat down on her cot, legged crossed Indian style, and pulled her into my lap with my arms still around her. My legs were falling asleep standing up, so I thought why not? She seemed happy enough- she stopped crying and was snuggling into my chest. After about ten seconds, she fell asleep with a smile on her face. If you took the time to look, you could see the places on her face where tears had been.

To my utter surprise, I found myself pressing my lips to the top of her head. Startled, I took them away from her hair and felt my cheeks heat up.

I must be insane.

When I looked at her again, she looked like she was in a deep enough sleep that I could put her down and her cot and let her sleep. If she woke up tomorrow in my arms with her memory back, I would have my face in the ground. Over and over and over…

That didn't sound so fun, so I set her down and got up. I actually _shivered _from the sudden loss of warmth, but ignored it. When I turned around to proceed to the comfortable, inviting wall, I heard immediate whimpering, then more sobbing.

I turned around to see Kagome awake, her eyes full of tears. She must've been really scared.

"You said you wouldn't leave me!" She wailed.

I practically ran back to her cot. She needed to shut up before anyone else woke up; if Miroku saw us, I would have never heard the end of it.

"Shhhh! You're gonna wake up everyone else!" I shushed her. She sniffled and laid back down.

I could tell she was still crying. I really didn't blame her though. She must've felt really alone right now, having lost her memories and not knowing who anyone was. After I sat against the wall for five minutes listening to her crying softly, I sighed, got up and laid down next to her, putting my arms around her again.

I might have well just dug my own grave.

She snuggled closer to me and whispered, "Thank you."

I felt the corners of my mouth tugging up in a smile. The small room was dark; I could hear the soft snoring of Miroku, and everyone else sound asleep. I concentrated on Kagome's slow, even breathing.

It put me to sleep. The last thing I remember thinking before drifting into unconsciousness was that I was going to get hell for this once Kagome got her memories back.

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Hey guys, what'd ya think? I tried to make it extra long, but that didn't work out so well. I didn't go back and edit anything, so this'll probably be sucky. Sorry bout that. Also sorry about all the fluffyness. : ) 


	9. Offer

Changed the pen name. Like it? (Circle yes or no if you review :) )

Guess what? I made it to chapter 10!! YAY!! And MORE THAN 50 reviews!! I'll make this chapter extraa long, kay? Thanks guys, you rock. :)

Sadly enough, I'm thinking that this will only be one or two chapters more. Maybe I'll start a new fic after that, so be on the lookout for it.

* * *

**February 21st **

I awoke to what could only be described as human screams. Horrible, terrible tortured sounds that no one should ever in their life hear.They hurt my ears so bad that I had to cover them with my hands, which didn't even help that much. Even though my first reaction should have been to find where the source of the yelling was coming from, I wanted to yell back at whoever was making such a racket and tell them to shut the hell up. I was trying to sleep here with Kagome, for crying out loud.

Two things dawned on me right then. One, Kagome was not next to me anymore. My arms embraced the empty air; there was no body there. Two, it was hot in here. Too hot. The screaming continued and I jumped up onto my feet. No one was here. Not Miroku, or Sango, or Kilala, or Shippo. Not even that old healer who had helped us earlier, or the guard that was scared out of his mind. It was still dark and blazing hot, and I couldn't just stand here and do nothing.

Just as I was about to bust the wall down- the sensible way would be just to go through the door -when the wall to my right burst into flames right before my eyes.

"So that's where all the heat's coming from…Fucking lovely." I murmured to myself. I kicked down the wall that wasn't already on fire, since I really didn't feel like going through a door that would make me bald if my hair came in contact with it. If there was a fire, then why hadn't anyone woken me up? Did they all just run away and leave me to sleep? No, they wouldn't do that. Something must've happened to them. By the sound of it, someone was attacking the village and setting it on fire.

Why would someone want to do that? It wasn't as if these people were extremely wealthy or had anything worth stealing. They were just a humble little village, the first one I could find yesterday when we were injured and looking for help.

Speaking of which, what time was it anyway? Let's see…it was dark out when I came in here. I laid down with Kagome, fell asleep…but for how long? It was still dark out, or at least I think it was. All I could see when I stepped out of the hut was thick smoke, which filled my lungs and made me cough, the moon straight above me, and fire. Fire everywhere that would destroy anything and anyone in its path.

Taking a deep breath and putting my sleeve up to my face so I would not breathe in any more smoke, I pushed my way through the heavy air.

"Can anyone hear me?" I screamed, in hopes that someone would. I doubted anyone would, because the screaming just got louder and louder. I listened and heard no reply.

I couldn't pick up anyone's scent; all I could smell was smoke, fire, and blood. The combination sickened me to the point where I wanted to throw up, but I didn't. There was just so much _blood _in the air that whoever was attacking the village wasn't giving anyone any mercy. They must want something, having going through so much trouble to get it.

I ran through clouds of smoke that cut off my air supply and found myself standing in the center of the village, where I had only been hours ago. I remembered walking, people staring at me with hate in their eyes. Now no one was here.

And then, in the middle of all my thoughts, I felt the breath being knocked out of my chest as something hard came out of nowhere and crashed into my chest, throwing me a couple of feet. I stumbled back up to my feet, being caught off guard, but I couldn't see what had knocked me down. It was like tonight was a new moon and I was human again: my senses were completely dulled from the fire. Whoever this enemy was, they knew how to get my defenses down.

And then, as I was in my battle stance, a sudden thought struck me. Naraku knew almost all my secrets by now, exactly how to completely destroy my defenses time after time.

So, I had two possibilities at hand. Either Naraku had somehow tracked us down and set the whole town ablaze, or some unknown enemy had picked a random town to terrorize. A town that we just happened to be in. It was too much of a coincidence.

Besides, Kagome always told me to go with my first instinct. It was usually right, she had said.

Assuming it was Naraku attacking, I called out, "Show yourself, you bastard!" I got no reply, but the wind carried a faint laugh towards me. I cried out when another tentacle whipped me in the back, knocking me to the ground again. I was completely sure that it was him now.

"I dropped in to say hello, and you were asleep. A shame, it was, so I thought I would just take your friends out for awhile." A nauseating voice asked me, seeming just inches from my face. So close that I could feel his disgusting breath blow on my face as he spoke. Pure fury and anger built in me, and I slashed my claws in the direction from which I thought he was. My hand cut through empty air and buried itself into the ground. No one was there.

"What did you do to them?" I emphasized each word slowly through my teeth.

"You'll find out soon enough," I heard. I turned in every direction, but saw nothing. It was hard to hear in the first place, given that screaming filled the thick morning air and hurt my ears. Overhead, despite the cloudy smoke making it difficult to see and breathe, I saw a faint hint of blue sky. _That must mean that it's close to morning_, I contemplated.

What I couldn't figure out was the fact that I heard people screaming bloody murder, yet I saw no shadows at least, and no one came near me. Maybe Naraku had them all tied up somewhere -I shuddered at the thought- or maybe they were simply hiding. None of the screams sounded familiar, which got me worried.

Where could they be?

I prepared myself for the worse. What if this time they were actually…gone? Naraku hadn't finished the job last time; he wouldn't hesitate to kill them all now. I was lucky to get away with everyone alive before. And if he had, say Kagura with him, then surely he could take them all down easily, minding their current injuries.

I had to get to them fast, or it might be too late. But how? Vision clouded, no sense of smells…I hated being weak.

"Sorry to wake you early, Inuyasha." said Naraku, still out of sight. It sent shivers down my spine. "Let me make it up to you." An earsplitting mock of a laugh sounded around me. I didn't even get a chance to say anything because as soon as I opened my mouth, the smoke that accompanied the smoldering flames surrounding me turned pink. The world suddenly seemed a lot funnier. And upside down. Was I supposed to be standing on the ceiling? Wait, I was outside. There was no ceiling. Or was there? I laughed.

I swayed from side to side, but it didn't make any difference to me. Everything was already spinning, who cared if I stood still? I struggled to stay awake; some part of my mind told me that I had to fight whatever it was making me like this. _But…_I thought, _what was wrong with feeling so…happy? _I hadn't been this happy ever since…I couldn't even remember. This pink crap was making me dumb.

A lazy smile crept on my face. Dumb. What a funny word. And then, for a split second, I could have sworn I saw my mother. Well, if she was ever there, she disappeared. I started to yell her name and she came back, dancing happily and was not looking at me. Then, she spotted me. The smile dropped clear off her face and her eyes were wide and terrified.

"You have to leave," She whispered. "You must get out of here, Inuyasha!"

"M-Mothe-er," I stuttered. It was too hard to talk, and I felt sleepy. I closed my eyes for a second, and then forced them back open. Maybe…Maybe if I just took a little nap, that would be okay.

"What…t's wrong?" It was like someone was forcing my eyelids shut, and I had to fight them to keep me alive.

"Find your friends and leave! Hurry, before it's too late!" Then a menacing smile crept on her face, making her nothing like my mother, mocking what she was.

"Go to sleep, my precious little angel," She teased me in a voice that was not hers. Familiar, hateful. _Not hers_, I thought. My mother raised her hand with a smirk on her face, and before I could stop her, since my thoughts couldn't go fast enough, she smacked me clear across my face. I looked up at her, shocked. The more time passed, the more I felt like falling to the ground, sleeping, and never waking up. Life was too hard, why go through it? There was no point anymore, if all my friends were dead. No point at all, since I had no one on Earth to be at least my friend.

"W-Why didja leave me? I-I…know I embarrassed you, but you left me! I had no one, I-I had to…," I struggled for words. "Go through everything alone! W-why did y-you have to d-die?"

A malicious grin crept on her cruelly beautiful face. "_Why_? You were a wretched little thing you were! A dirty little half demon as my son- I never wanted you. You're just a disgusting excuse for a living thing." This pierced through my heart. My mother, my own mother. She loved me, didn't she? All those times when the villagers had picked on and threw things at me, she stood up for me. What was wrong with me? It wasn't like I had chosen to be like this! It wasn't my fault. Why, then, my mother, the only person who had ever loved me?

I couldn't take it anymore. The urge to sleep was just too over powering. My legs felt like jelly, and I collapsed to the ground, closing my eyes with tears streaming down my face. The last thing I remember of consciousness was someone whispering in my ear, "Don't worry, honey. You'll see your friends soon. Goodbye, I love you."

She almost sounded like my mother.

* * *

Something, something was wrong. I couldn't put my finger on it, but something definitely was not right. But what could be so wrong that I had to get up from here? Sure, the ground was cold and dirty, but I felt fine here. Nice and peaceful. Yet that thought kept nagging at me. _Get up_, it told me. _Get up or you'll pay_. Fine. I'll get up if it makes you happy.

I opened one eye. There were parts of scorched huts scattered all over the ground, and bodies lying everywhere. The ground was littered with villagers, young and old, dead or unconscious I did not know. I didn't want to know, but I hoped that they would all live. Somewhere in my mind, I knew that they were all dead. No one could have survived this.

Wait, what had happened? How did I get here? I remembered waking up, running outside, finding the whole town on fire. Then hearing Naraku, and the pink smoke…and my mother? Was that just a hallucination?

I recalled falling asleep, and now I guess I was here. I was lying on my side with my eyes half closed, sleep still clouding my mind and my cheek pressed against the ground. I couldn't summon enough energy to get up. All of a sudden, muffled yelling jogged me out of my thoughts. My heart racing, I got up to my feet as fast as my body allowed. Someone was alive?

I turned around and did a double take. There they were, all four of them, hands tied behind backs, legs bounded together, cloth stuffed in their mouths to prevent any one of them from speaking. We were all in the center of the town. Kilala wasn't tied up, just past out, sprawled out next to Sango. Miroku had a black eye. Sango, who was always the one who never gave up, had her head resting on Miroku's shoulder, hopelessness in her eyes. Shippo just lay there, sleeping with Kilala. Kagome, who by the looks of it, still had no memories, had tears in her eyes and was screaming things at me. Naturally, I didn't understand her, since her there was a cloth stuffed in her mouth.

"Kagome!" I yelled. She was the only one who had noticed I woke up. Miroku and Sango looked at me, their eyes wide. I ran to Kagome, not even bothering to look around to see if Naraku was here, and untied the rag around her mouth.

Her eyes were scared and they looked past me. "Run!" she screamed. The fear and loss of memories must've messed with her head. What was she talking about? "Duck! Move!"

I automatically, out of habit, did what she said, dropping to the ground as fast as my body allowed. Overhead, something long shot through the empty air, the space where my head was just half a second ago. I knew what it was. So, Naraku hadn't left yet. We weren't going to get lucky like last time (for the record, I had no idea _why _we had got lucky). I was probably playing into his stupid hand right now, passing out earlier and now here with everyone else.

I dodged another tentacle, jumping from the balls of my feet into the air.

"I see you are finally awake." An unseen voice informed me. It scared me- the only thing I could hear until now was Kagome crying and Miroku yelling out the direction from which Naraku's limbs were shooting out at me.

"You've been asleep for _days _now," He said in a whispery voice that was actually quite loud. I had been out for days? I wondered if he was telling me the truth, which I doubted.

"I was starting to think you were dead." I could almost feel his spine-chilling smirk.

"You thought wrong," I yelled, so I could be sure he could hear what I was saying. But somehow, I knew he would hear it even if I whispered it. "I'm alive, and I'm here to kick your ass, you coward! Come out here and fight me like a man!" I prepared myself to fight. On second thought… "Or whatever the hell you are…" I added, murmuring.

"How cute. You must think you're very funny, eh Inuyasha? Well, see your little girlfriend over there?" Kagome's eyes grew wide, as if in her confused state she knew that he was referring to her.

"I understand that she has no memory, correct?"

"What…," I whispered. I cleared my throat, and raised my voice, but it sounded all wrong. High, squeaky. "…did you do to her?" I finished. I swore to God, this time was it. Despite all the other times I said I was going to kill him, he had just gone too far. Much too far.

"Are you dumb? Well, no need to ask…I took her memory, you imbecile. And if you want it back, well…you'll just have to kill me." He appeared out of thin air, materializing just feet from where I stood. The baboon pelt covered his face, so I couldn't see his repulsive eyes, but I could see the victorious grin on his face. I wanted so badly to wipe it straight off his face.

I didn't reply, because there were no words to say. Nothing could describe how I felt at that very moment. I just felt the impulse to attack, and I followed it, lunging with my sword in my hand. But he was too fast- he disappeared right before my very eyes, to god knows where.

I turned around swiftly, and there he was. Naraku pulled his hood down and looked straight into my eyes. His own eyes were bursting with amusement from this whole situation, I could tell. I stared back, hard and cold, which I surprisingly found difficult.

"If you cannot kill me, then I guess poor little Kagome will never know who she is, or who you are, for that matter. As a matter of fact, I might just make her do my bidding. You know Kohaku, correct?" He paused, thinking. "Unless…I think I'll make you a proposal, Inuyasha.

Since all the smoke had cleared while I was sleeping, my senses had been completely restored, and the sickly scent of Naraku was making me sick.

I didn't answer, just continued to stare. I could feel the eyes of Miroku, Sango and Kagome - Shippo and Kilala were still out cold - drilling holes into my back. My temper flared up, but I still waited. No way in hell was he ever going to get Kagome. Over my dead body. No, not even then.

"I'll let the girl and your friends go unharmed. All you have to do is give your soul to me." And that same cold smirk crept on his face, as if thinking that he had won.

* * *

Hey, I'm sorry it took so long. :/ But I made it kinda long…this author's note makes it seven pages. My internet completely broke down for about 2 or 3 weeks, but it's fixed. Yay! So now, as I said, this might be coming to an end maybe next chapter. I don't know. I have to see if I can actually end this in one more chapter…

So sad. Review!


	10. Ending, Begining

_This whole story had 58 (?) reviews, not counting the ones for this chapter. That made me extremely happy. I never thought that this would get that many. Thank you so much to each and every one of you who reviewed. And much gratitude to those of you who will review this chapter. : )_

_Last chapter guys. Well, it was fun while it lasted._

**May 3rd **

I stared at him, straight into his bottomless, pitch black eyes. I struggled to keep my face straight; I felt the corners of my mouth tugging upwards. I inhaled deeply before making my features look resigned, defeated.

"You win. I'll give you my soul." This was _really _hard. I could hear Kagome screaming in protest behind me, and Sango's gasp. The fact that Kagome had lost her memories and _still _cared about me much more than I deserved did not help my cause at all.

Surprise was evident all over his face- I could tell that he really expected me to decline his offer. In all the times I'd faced Naraku, I had never actually seen him startled. He always knew what was coming, what I was going to do.

And then, seeing the obvious shock on his face, thinking that he had finally won, I couldn't hold it in any longer. It was just too much.

"Are you serious?" he asked me, doubtful. It was priceless.

Despite the seriousness of the situation at hand, despite all that I was risking, I laughed. I laughed so hard that tears were streaming down the sides of my face. I clutched my side, almost to the point where I was on the ground laughing. Did Naraku honestly think that I was that stupid? Wait, maybe I didn't want to hear the answer to that... I saw Naraku's eyes narrow.

"Hell…," I paused, clearing my throat from my laughter that was just now dying out. "Hell no! How could you _ever _think that I would give my soul to a dim-witted bastard like _you_?" The concept of me ever surrendering to him just seemed so funny that I burst out into another round of hysteric laughter.

He stood there, ever staring. I stiffened; his facial expression made me silent. I turned my head slightly, just enough so I could see the reactions of my friends, who were still tied up behind me. They watched me carefully, and I could see that I was the only one who had thought my little joke was funny. I cleared my throat again. As I was about to face fully back to Naraku, when a something brown shot out in front of my half twisted face.

I dodged it, leaping back a couple feet.

And so, the fight to the death began.

I sure as hell wasn't going with his little trade (as my earlier joke had illustrated), and I didn't want to run away like a coward, either. If I wanted to win this time, be the one to get up and walk away, then I needed help.

Successfully avoiding the tentacles trying to impale me, I made my way back to Miroku, whose hands I effectively untied before yet another limb could stab me. He could undo the rag binding his legs together himself.

Naraku was laughing his creepily eerie laugh at me. Apparently, it was his time to joke now. By this time, Miroku had freed both Sango and Kagome. They were both at my side at once with their respective weapons in fighting position, while Kagome stood a couple feet behind us, staring with eyes that didn't know as much as they should. This bothered me, and only made me want Naraku dead even more than I already did. I didn't think that was possible…

Sango flung the gigantic boomerang at one of the many tentacles flying out around Naraku's body. It made contact with a slithering one, cut clear through, but it immediately grew back. Miroku tried his wind tunnel, but as always, the poisonous insects made the infamous appearance. Unsheathing my sword, I charged at him, a fierce growl building in my throat. I hacked away at everything that dared to attempt touching me. It was no use- we weren't going to win this way.

Shippo and Kilala seemed to be conscious now: the stupid little kitsune was bouncing up and down with his tiny fists pumping in the air, cheering us on. I rolled my eyes. He and Kilala, stood dutifully by Kagome's side, who still had the look of a lost child about to cry. I turned to face my enemy, the reason I was here. The reason all of us were so messed up- he had done something to each one of us, except Kagome. She was only here because she had something she needed to fix, that was all. Still, every one of us wanted revenge. I had to focus, or else the fight would get nowhere.

Then, the idea struck me out of nowhere. Maybe it was because I could smell a certain mangy wolf running towards us with unnecessary eagerness. We could handle this ourselves. But still…the help couldn't hurt. Teamwork was what always won; we had to work together, at the same time, to take him down.

A gust of revolving wind appeared in front of me, literally out of thin air itself. Behind him lagged his two slow companions, whose names I did not know or remember.

"Kouga!" One of them shouted, panting hard. You would figure he would be faster, considering the whole wolf thing…

"Yeah, Kouga, wait up, would ya?" said the other, equally slow and out of breath. Kouga ignored them and stared me down. I was surprised, he didn't seem to even notice Naraku, who wasn't that far away from us. I wondered idly why he wasn't attacking us. Maybe we were just amusement for the time being…

"You better have a _very _good excuse as to why my Kagome is standing there, unprotected, only ten feet from NARAKU!" He shouted in my face. I wrinkled my nose. Okay, so maybe he did notice Naraku, but he had a excellent way of hiding it.

"None of your _business_, wolf." I retorted. I reached my fist out to punch him, but the cheater used to jewel shards to run away before I could make contact with the smirk on his face. My clenched fist went through the empty air.

"Ha! Nice try, you mangy mutt!" Kouga called over his shoulder on his way to Kagome's side. Oh no. This was not going to be good…

"Hey, Kagome," he said to her casually, smiling. "I'll beat Naraku's ass for you, then you can come hang out with me, okay? You have _got _to be tired of being around the reeking dog."

She stared at him blankly, then flickered her eyes from me to Kouga, back and forth. She didn't know what to do. A confused look came on his face after she didn't answer him.

"What's wron-" he started.

"Would you mind telling me who you are, please, and how I know you?" Kagome asked him. I busted out laughing- that oughta show him.

"What?" He stuttered out. Then his eyes were on me, completely suspicious.

"What the _hell _did you do to her, you-" He let out a long stream of curses that I feel not appropriate to write down, in case someone as childish as Shippo ever got his hands on this here journal. (Which will NEVER happen, but…just in case).

After he was finally finished, he rambled on some more. I missed half of it because I was staring down Naraku. "-You bastard! If she's hurt in anyway, I swear to Kami, I'll kick your ass so hard, you won't even know what hit you! She should know who I am, she should-"

"Are you done yet? Because I have some business to take care of." I interrupted him. He didn't answer, and I took that as a yes. When I slowly averted my eyes from Naraku's, I saw that Kouga had his arms wrapped around Kagome's shoulders, pulling him close to her. She looked stiff and her eyes were wide, looking desperately towards me for help. I pointed towards the direction of which Sango and Miroku were standing, still tense. I didn't see Shippo until I looked more closely- he was cowering in a nearby bush. Typical.

I looked back to Naraku, and I had almost no time to react to the tentacle that attempted to smash through me. But I made it- I hopped to my left just barely in time to get away with only a gash on my upper right arm. I clung to it with my good arm only to stop the bleeding; it didn't hurt. I could hear Kagome draw in a deep, unsteady breath.

In that fast instant, Miroku and Kouga were on either side of me. Sango stayed back by Kagome for protection. I vaguely noticed that Kouga's lackeys weren't anywhere to been seen.

"I don't need your help" I growled lowly to the wolf, even though I knew we did. Stupid pride…I was kind of pissed now that Naraku had tried the whole 'sneak attack' bit on me.

"You need me and you know it," Kouga's grin was smug. "And besides, I want to be here when Naraku goes down. We have a score to settle."

I sighed, but gave up. I really didn't feel like arguing with Kouga now…I mean, any other time I would be perfectly happy to, but now wasn't the time.

Without warning, Kouga all but disappeared with speed. I saw a flash of color circling Naraku, waiting to strike. He stopped suddenly behind him and slashed his claws into the spider scar on his back. Naraku moved fast, but not fast enough. His claws had done a little bit of damage; blood oozed from the wound that would slow him down just enough for us to catch him.

Naraku's face was enraged and his demonic eyes were a sickly color red. His teeth were bared, but that didn't scare me at all. Not a bit.

For the first time _ever_, he lost his control. It seemed to me that now that Kouga had coaxed some blood out of him, he couldn't keep his cool any longer. Naraku slashed and at hacked at us. It looked as if his anger was now clouding his always sound judgment and strategy. He was now…vulnerable. I had to hand it to the wolf, he was good, even if he hadn't meant to be.

"What's wrong, Naraku?" I teased him, trying to make him angrier. He didn't seem to hear me, so I cupped my hands around my mouth like a microphone, "Chill out!"

Sango and Miroku teamed up, fighting together. And, to my immense dislike, I snuck around to the other side of Naraku with Kouga. Naraku didn't seem to notice us in his blind fury. I jabbed my sword into the center of his back, into his spider shaped scar. Kouga took advantage of this temporary distraction and attacked him too, along with Sango hurling her boomerang and Miroku doing…whatever it is he did. Either way, Naraku let out an inhuman, bloodcurdling screech, like nails on metal.

Then, everything was deadly silent. His eyes, which were very wide and bldod red, glazed over. His limp body fell to the ground with a thud. I felt a light breeze, and his body turned to dust and disappeared with the wind.

It was over. Finally over. A slow smile crept on my face.

* * *

It's now been about three weeks after Naraku died. No trouble has come our way yet, although I'm sure with my luck something's bound to come attack us.

You know how Kagome lost her memory and stuff? Well, as soon as Naraku died, her memory came back apparently. She thanked me later for taking care of her while she didn't know who any of us were, and I just shrugged it off. No need to get all teary eyed about it.

I think I've made peace with Kagome now about the whole journal thing. She came back one day with a brand new one. I remember smiling awkwardly at her, not knowing what to say when she apologized, and then scowling at her when I opened it to the first page and I saw the flowers printed on the pink paper. She just laughed at me and skipped away.

So today, I'm writing in this girly journal, my last entry. It kind of makes me sad in a stupid kind of way, because I'll no longer have anything to do when I get bored in the middle of the night. Sure, I could sleep, but where's the fun in that?

I just dropped this journal when Shippo threw something that Kagome calls a "football" at me. I chased him around for a bit until Kagome yelled at me and sat me. When I picked it back up, an envelope fell out into my lap. I wonder…

_Dear Inuyasha-_

_I don't know when you'll find this. It might be tomorrow, or it might be ten years from now. _

_I have something to tell you, but I don't know how. Well, here it goes…now that Naraku is gone for good, I have to decide two things: whether or not I'm going to stay in this era, and what to do with the sacred jewel. It's been a couple days since that last battle, and I'm surprised that you haven't been bugging me constantly about either of those things._

_I'll start with the jewel. It took me awhile to decide what exactly I'm going to do with it, but I'm sure of my choice now. _

_I want you to have it. We went through all this trouble, all these years to get it back, and I've decided that you need it much more than I do. I have no conditions- you can use it however you want. I know you've suffered a lot, even though you won't ever let me know it, so if you still want to become a full demon with it, go on ahead. I like you the way you are, though. I wish you wouldn't change, because you're fine the way you are. But now it's your turn to decide. I'm okay with whatever you choose._

_I've also come to the conclusion that I'm going to stay in the Feudal era. There's nothing left for me back in present- all my friends are here now. I'll stay with you guys, or maybe Miroku and Sango if you decide to leave us. They've told me that they plan to get married and start a family soon._

_I haven't told you this in person yet, but my Grandpa is really very sick, and there's little chance that he'll live much longer. So when he…passes away, my mother and brother plan to move to America to start over. I can't just leave like that, so I'm staying here. I hope that's okay. Of course I'll visit them on holidays and stuff, but I just can't live there anymore._

_Tell me when you get this, okay? Maybe you'll already know by now the things I've mentioned in this letter. Maybe not. Either way, please tell me._

_Thank you._

_Kagome._

_Oh, one more thing. I love you. _

My hands were shaky. She was staying, which was good. She was also giving the jewel to me. _Me_, of all people. I had no idea what to do with it. I wasn't so keen on going full demon anymore, and I didn't know why. I didn't exactly want to be human either. I hated being weak and useless. I guess I'd figure that out later.

I read the last line over and over again, that line that was written in her curly handwriting and looked like her hand was shaking while she wrote it.

I read it one last time, and walked over to where she was sitting, wrapped up in a sleeping bag and reading some sort of book thing. She looked up at me and her eyes went wide and her face red when she saw her letter in my hand. Kagome looked up sheepishly at me.

I said nothing and held out my hand, staring at her, showing her I was dead serious. Realizing what I meant, she took it. Her tiny, warm hand was lost in mine.

I was satisfied with the knowledge that her hand would always be mine to hold.

* * *

_Wow, what a crappy ending. I'm sorry. I'm putting up some new stuff, so check that out. I might even start a new story._

_Sorry this took so long. I kind of rushed through the end after my writer's block went away. And the last line was…ugh, it was mushy._

_Well, I'm kind of sad that this is the end. It was fun._

_Whatever. Review one last time, please. : )_

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